Podcast Summary: The 1 Thing Your Pastor Needs Its Not Strategy Pastor Jeff x Pastor Chris Kouba

The Best Thing You Can Do for Your Pastor
There’s something about leadership that forces uncomfortable honesty. You can spend years believing the answer is more—more strategy, more charisma, more polish, more production value, more “if we just tweak this one thing.” And then God, in His kindness, starts stripping away what’s secondary until you’re left with what’s essential.
And what’s essential—painfully, beautifully—is this:
Your pastor doesn’t need to become a better brand.
He needs to burn hotter in his relationship with the Lord.

The Glow That Can’t Be Faked
One of the most haunting pictures of spiritual leadership in Scripture isn’t a platform moment. It’s Moses coming down the mountain.
Not with new marketing. Not with better speech patterns. Not with a “five-step plan” for momentum.
He comes down with a face that’s glowing—because he’s been with God.
There’s a holiness that can’t be manufactured. There’s authority that doesn’t come from volume. There’s a weight to a man’s life that can’t be built with talent alone.
And whether people know how to say it or not, they need that more than they need anything else.
They need a pastor who’s been with Jesus.

The Hidden Whiplash of Pastoral Life
Most people only see the public side of ministry—Sunday sermons, leadership moments, a confident presence. But the week-to-week reality is often emotional whiplash.
One minute your pastor is celebrating a breakthrough: a man opening his Bible again for the first time in ten years, a family coming alive spiritually, someone stepping into faith with joy and clarity.
The next minute, he’s walking into the ashes of someone else’s crisis: a marriage unraveling, a child wandering, a betrayal, a funeral, a phone call that changes everything.
And in between those moments, he’s still supposed to lead his home well. Love his wife well. Shepherd his kids well. Carry a vision. Lead a team. Make wise decisions. Absorb criticism. Stay steady when people are shaky. Keep his heart soft when his schedule is hard.
That’s the burden.
Not for sympathy—so you understand the battlefield.

Praise and Criticism: Two Opposite Dangers
Here’s something every lead pastor learns quickly: the role comes with praise you don’t deserve and criticism you don’t deserve.
If you believe the praise, it inflates you.
If you absorb the criticism, it crushes you.
Either way, it can take you out.
And that’s why the real fight isn’t on the stage. It’s in the soul.
Because long before a pastor falls publicly, his relationship with Jesus has usually cooled privately.
That’s the danger. Not that he stops working—but that he stops walking with God.

So What Can the Congregation Do?
If you want to care for your pastor in a way that actually matters, here it is:

1) Pray for his holiness, not just his success
Pray he stays close to Jesus. Pray his private life matches his public calling. Pray his heart stays tender. Pray the fear of the Lord stays strong.
Because the church doesn’t just need a gifted communicator—it needs a consecrated shepherd.

2) Pray for protection and covering
Your pastor is not Superman. He’s a man. He’s a target. The enemy studies pastors. He has “game film.” He knows where the weak spots are—discouragement, temptation, isolation, exhaustion, pride, insecurity.
Pray protection over his mind, his marriage, his integrity, his joy.

3) Encourage him in specific ways
Generic encouragement is nice. Specific encouragement is oxygen.
A group of men texting their pastor daily with a personal prayer—most people have no idea how much that matters. It reminds him he’s not alone. It reinforces that someone is standing guard with him.

4) Offer solutions, not drive-by criticism
A critical mind can be helpful. A critical spirit is destructive.
If you see a problem and you’re in a position to help, bring solutions. Bring clarity. Bring humility. Don’t be a “keyboard cowboy” firing off opinions without context.
Your pastor knows details you don’t. The goal isn’t to protect him from accountability—the goal is to strengthen him with maturity.

5) Treat him like a human being
Rejoice with him when he rejoices. Weep with him when he weeps.
Don’t demand perfection. Expect progress. Don’t put Jesus-sized expectations on a man who’s trying to follow Jesus.

Why Men Matter (And Why That’s Not Anti-Woman)
In a conversation that spanned leadership, church revitalization, and cultural challenges, one theme kept surfacing: when a church reaches men, it reaches families.
Not because women aren’t strong (they are). Not because women aren’t vital (they are). But because Scripture assigns men a weight of responsibility—and when men abandon it, everyone feels it.
When men are passive, families weaken.
When men are discipled, families stabilize.
When men lead with humility, women flourish.
When men love their wives like Christ, homes become safer.
This isn’t anti-woman. It’s pro-woman. Pro-family. Pro-church.
And in a culture full of confusion about masculinity—confidence crisis, mentorship crisis, Scripture crisis—the church cannot afford to be silent.
Men don’t need to be entertained. They need to be challenged. Equipped. Called up. Trained.
Because men will seek coaching for golf and football and business—but avoid coaching for the soul.
And that’s backward.
Every man needs a coach. Every man needs brothers. Every man needs the Word.
The Gift of the Church
Podcasts help. Tools help. Content helps.
But one of the most important lines in the conversation was simple:
You don’t need another podcast. You need the church.
Because the church is where mentorship becomes normal. Where older, wiser men can say, “I’ve been hit before—hang on.” Where discipleship becomes life-on-life. Where newly married couples learn from seasoned couples. Where fathers of teenagers find other fathers of teenagers. Where somebody can say, “Can I buy you coffee and ask you how you’ve done this?”
That’s not a program. That’s Christianity.
The Way Forward Isn’t New
And maybe this is the best news of all:
The strategy isn’t new. The gospel isn’t outdated. The Word still works.
In a post-Christian culture, what the church needs is not panic. It needs conviction.
Preach the Bible like you believe it.
Live like it’s true.
Let the lion out of the cage.
Faithful gospel witness—week after week—will not return void.
Not through flash. Not through trendy innovation. Not through endless programs.
Through Jesus. Through Scripture. Through prayer. Through holiness.

One Simple Takeaway
If you want to do something that genuinely strengthens your pastor and protects your church, start here:
Pray that your pastor stays close to Jesus—white hot, steady, faithful, humble, and holy.
Because when the Lord reigns, prisons open, pretenders fall, and the Word advances.
And when your pastor burns hot with God, the whole church feels the warmth.